In this sequel to Chowringhee, the third instalment in the life and tribulations
of the naïve and innocent young Shanker, he is once again out of a job
and without a roof on his head. After much difficulty he finds a job as a
manager in a grand but crumbling building in the posh area of the city:
Thackeray Mansion on Scudder Street. The narrator directs his keen eye
and sympathetic ear to tell captivating stories of those who live in the
homes within a home of Thackeray Mansion, and those who work in it. The
mysterious disappearance of Philip sahib’s wife, the hilarious monologues
of the feisty Poppy Biswas and the grouchy Baradaprasanna, the seductive
Sulekha Sen who morphs into the respectable Seema Chatterjee, and
the love of Dorothy Watts for Rabindranath Tagore: stories nestle within
stories and the result is an astonishing novel filled with joys and sorrows,
laughter and tears, despair and hope.
Archives: Books
Debt
Must we always repay our debts?
Wasn’t money invented to replace ancient barter systems?
Apparently not, according to Yale-bred anthropologist David Graeber.
In a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom, Graeber radically challenges our understanding of debt. He illustrates how, for more than 5000 years—long before the invention of coins or bills—there existed debtors and creditors who used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods. He argues that Madagascar was held to be indebted to France because France invaded it, reminds us that texts from Vedic India included God in credit systems and shows how the dollar changed European society forever in the sixteenth century. He also brilliantly demonstrates how words like ‘guilt’, ‘sin’ and ‘redemption’ derive in large part from ancient debates about debt, and shape even our most basic ideas of right and wrong.
Debt: The First 5000 Years is a fascinating chronicle of this little known history—of how it has defined the evolution of human society, and what it means for the credit crisis of the present day and the future of our economy.
The Wrong Enemy
A Corner of a Foreign Field
A Corner of a Foreign Field seamlessly interweaves biography with history, the lives of famous or forgotten cricketers with wider processes of social change. C. K. Nayudu and Sachin Tendulkar naturally figure in this book, but so, too, in unexpected ways, do B. R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, and M. A. Jinnah. The Indian careers of those great British cricketers, Lord Harris and D. R. Jardine, provide a window into the operations of Empire. The remarkable life of India’s first great slow bowler, Palwankar Baloo, provides an arresting new perspective on the struggle against caste discrimination. Later chapters explore the competition between Hindu and Muslim cricketers in colonial India and the destructive passions now provoked when India plays Pakistan.
For this new edition, Ramachandra Guha has added a long epilogue bringing the story up to date to cover, among other things, the advent of the Indian Premier League and the Indian team’s victory in the World Cup of 2011, these linked to social and economic transformations in contemporary India.
A pioneering work, essential for anyone interested in either of those vast themes, cricket and India, A Corner of a Foreign Field is also a beautifully written meditation on the ramifications of sport in society at large.
The Learning Factory
‘The Learning Factory is a book full of anecdotal stories that offers different teachings and lessons for students, business professionals, as well as those curious about the Tata way of business. This firsthand narration of interactions and incidents with Tata leaders gives a new insight into the group’s leadership and strategy and helps better understand its value-driven business.’ – Ratan Tata
Founded in 1868 by Jamshetji Tata, the Tata Group symbolizes the great Indian story of hope, growth and phenomenal success.The group played the role of a nation builder in post- independent India. Its companies were headed by legendary chairpersons, all of whom firmly believed in the importance of continuously learning and growing. What can we learn from the individual stories that come together to form this inspiring narrative? Like all great successes, this isn’t one story-it is many accounts that are so powerful that the whole is so much greater than the sum of all its parts.
In The Learning Factory, Arun Maira narrates people-centric episodes that bring alive the values of the Tata Group, standards that combine the high-velocity practices as well as the old-fashioned principles that make the Tata Group the giant it is today. With insightful stories of conduct that are as practically implementable as they are inspiring, this is a blueprint for the individual as well as the business that seeks success through its community of leaders, workers and thinkers.
The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk
Over the years, Sudha Murty has come across some fascinating people whose lives make for interesting stories and have astonishing lessons to reveal. Take Vishnu, who achieves every material success but never knows happiness; or Venkat, who talks so much that he has no time to listen. In other stories, a young girl goes on a train journey that changes her life forever; an impoverished village woman provides bathing water to hundreds of people in a drought-stricken area; a do-gooder ghost decides to teach a disconsolate young man Sanskrit; and in the title story, a woman in a flooded village in Odisha teaches the author a life lesson she will never forget.
How To Make Enemies And Offend People
Ever since the Radia tapes were leaked, my wife has been extremely upset. I tried to reason with her. ‘Believe me,’ I said, ‘I did talk to Niira Radia. Is it my fault that my conversation with her has not been leaked?’Often described as ‘the funniest ever writer to have come out of trans-Yamuna Delhi in the 75-77kg category’, G. Sampath launches a hilarious counter-offensive against perpetually offense-taking offensive people and issues in this small but potent volume. From Ajay Devgn’s nipples to his wife’s real estate ambitions, Arnab Goswami’s special powers to male virgins’ special problems, sari-obsessed women to pesticide-obsessed farmers, Sampath runs his vampire-like fingernails across the private obsessions and public frustrations of the Indian Everyman. Wily old genius that he is, where you expect him to draw blood, he draws a chuckle.
My Yummy Mummy Guide
Karisma Kapoor has played many roles—from successful actor to businesswoman—but her favourite is being mother to her two beautiful children, Samaira and Kiaan.
In My Yummy Mummy Guide, she shares with you all her experiences from managing her pregnancy to losing all the weight afterwards to disciplining her kids.
Here is great advice on finding the perfect maternity outfits, decorating your children’s rooms, juggling work life and motherhood, and planning the most stylish kiddie parties.
From the first trimester to school’s first semester, from growing-up issues to teen fads, My Yummy Mummy Guide is the most fun-filled best friend any mother could have.
• How to be glam at 40 weeks
• Finding that perfect nanny
• Managing me time
• Losing 24 kg in 9 months
The Avenger
A plane full of college girls is blown up by Sikandar Khan, a Pakistani terrorist. Former Special Forces officer Suvir Suri is called upon to lead a counterterrorism operation to and the killer. Then Sikandar Khan resurfaces to launch a second attack that can send India and Pakistan to war. The walls are closing in on Suvir. Will he be able to stop this rising tide of terror or will it sweep away all his efforts?
Just For You
When you love someone, what’s there to prove?
Everything!
It looks like life is teaching Rohit a lesson. His publishing deals, his relationships, even his job-nothing seems to be working out. To make matters worse, Karan is still trying his best to ruin him as a writer. But when Nisha leaves him, it’s the ultimate blow.
To win her back Rohit must prove he loves her enough to do things that matter to her: like helping Tara find a publisher. As Rohit takes control of his life, he begins to find things slowly changing for the better for him too.
But will Nisha be happy with that? Will she come back to him?
Just for You is an adorable, bittersweet story about love and its responsibilities.